Ecological Impacts of Re-Releasing Tourists into Yellowstone

Dr. Jogi Barr¹, and John Francis Smith²

¹ Department of Snackbar and Picnic Basket Ecology, Cranberry-Lemon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

² Park Ranger and Conservation Expert, Yellowstone National Park, USA

Abstract

In the world of ecology, one small change in an environment can create a cascading domino effect which can cause drastically different environments. In America’s national parks, second- and third-order effects have been observed as animals are reintroduced, wildfires are prevented, and even from the maintenance of trails to prevent erosion. Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is facing yet another complicated ecological phenomenon as it measures and adjusts to the irreversible impacts of re-releasing tourists back into the Yellowstone ecosystem. Once YNP and other conservation areas became closed off to the public during the pandemic, we watched as the environment repaired itself and humanity...